Page 159 of They Break Beauty

“Well, damn, I honestly didn’t see this coming. I didn’t see any of this coming, anything that’s happened to the two of us when we started back at Stonewell U this year, you know?”

“It’s certainly been full of surprises, for sure.”

Intensity took her over and she leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Just be careful with them, okay?”

I frowned. “Is there something specific you’re worried about?”

“I want you to be happy and I get that it’s hard for you to let go and all that, so the fact that you have with them is a big deal. But the thrill and relief of that might be clouding some things for you.”

“Like?”

She blew out a breath. “I know who bent my mom’s ear about pulling me out of here. I’m sorry, Bree. It’s one of your guys.”

I tensed and a chill rolled down my spine at the accusation, and the corresponding awful implications.

“I guess they wanted me out of the way so they could have a clear shot to you or something. Either way, it’s fucked-up, so I wanted you to be aware.”

“Of course, yeah. Thank you. Who was it?”

“It was Levi Knight.”

Son of a bitch.

32

~Levi~

The big motherfucker went down hard again.

Thanks to me.

More specifically, thanks to the wrath I was channeling all my frustrations into.

The secret I was keeping from Brianna was weighing on me more with each passing day.

I’d listened to Mason’s logic and reason, things that I’d normally refute and go with my instincts instead. But because of the agreement we had and the way things were going so well with the two of us, and all of us lately, I hadn’t gone that route. I’d held back.

And it was killing me inside.

She deserved to know what was going on. It had a direct impact on her. It was as much a part of my dark and fucked-up past as it was hers.

Now there was another complication that had been thrown into the mix in the form of Chloe Anders. Her fucking timing of returning—even temporarily as I already knew it to be—couldn’t have been worse.

The fear rolling through me of her fucking things up was a living breathing thing twisting me up.

And when I got like that, I tended to be… destructive.

So I was channeling it into a little street fighting.

Something Sammy had been really happy about, because I always brought in a hell of a crowd—and money for him—and I’d been away for a while immersed in Brianna and our foursome awesomeness.

The roided-out monster of a guy tapped out instead of getting up and coming back into the fight.

Pathetic.

Sure, he had a broken nose and bruised ribs, but that was nothing in terms of the damage I could really do.

As one of his buddies helped him to head out, I stepped out and walked to Sammy.

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